"The Gherkin", a photo from London, England

Photographer's Note

If you happen to be in London and looking for 30 St. Mary Axe or the Swiss Re tower. You'll probably have better luck asking a Londoner
for the Gherkin. Located in the heart of the financial district the Swiss Re Tower is the work of architect Norman Foster, a man famous for designs such as
London's city hall, the Great Court at the British Museum, and the Millenium Bridge- to name a few.

The tower which stands 40 storeys, bulges its greatest width at the 26th floor, and tapers to the only piece of rounded glass on the whole building- the dome.
One of its most striking features is the spiral pattern that climbs up the curved sides, achieved by the slight rotation of each of the floors, with atriums,
or "sky-gardens," on every level producing the spiral effect. The rotation has an ecological as well as a design function: it creates pressure differentials
between the floors that pull air in through vents and reduce the need for air-conditioning and energy consumption.

An interesting design indeed.

More info can be found at ://www.30stmaryaxe.co.uk/

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Post Production; Levels adjusted & frame added.

Spoony, agelaste, papagolf21, DonQ, jhm, ChristianS, Endy, rabani, technogran, spence, ChrisJ, Rhiannon, Nottinghill, jp80, pedros, Alan_Kolnik, jbweasle, KevRyan, capthaddock, perryhooter, alekpet, sarahlukie, djnik2004, anew has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

burdallet (0) 2004-09-26 3:11

Surprising contrast of different ages of architecture , well done

RGatward (20050) 2004-09-26 3:15

Interesting view of the gherkin, juxtaposing it with the older building in the foreground. Maybe the top part of the shot is a little OE.

Spoony (3539) 2004-09-26 5:48

In this pic I detach the beautiful contrast between old and modern architecture! Adorable.
Well done Dan.
Spoony.

papagolf21 (76973) 2004-09-26 6:38

Une vue architecturale intéressante Dan ! Marier l'ancien au moderne est une excellente idée. Une photographie impressionnante. Les couleurs sont bien saturées.
Belle composition.

DonQ (2625) 2004-09-26 6:41

What a...!
Colours and angle are great! :-) Lights and contrast too.
I like this frame also. And it is certainly not oversharpeness! ;-)
Very well done Dan.
Cheers, Don

agelaste (533) 2004-09-26 6:43

Norman Foster,the favorate architect of my professor's and mine,his work by Hongkong and Shanghai Bank is High-tech style as usual,
here more about his works:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Norman_Foster.html

hdl (6995) 2004-09-26 7:36

I saw that building from very close when I was in London for my work and it is a very special construction. I must have looked at it for several minutes trying to grasp the meaning of it. Modern buildings are generally not my thing, but this one is so interesting that I have to like it.
About the picture: good combination of colours blue and brown. The early (or late) sun creates a special timbre to the walls that I like very much. Good POV, good composition.

[2]

jhm (123116) 2004-09-26 8:08

A unusual picture, but excellent beautiful, Dan, the lovely blue colour above make you photo great, old and new, one lovely.

suzums (74) 2004-09-26 9:50

intersting splash of colors. i specially like the mixture of modern and oldern architecture in the photo.
you've captured this at a very nice angle as well. good job.

naxius (16685) 2004-09-26 11:02

Very nice composition Dan. I like it very much. The light, the colors contrasted and the reflexion on the windows. The sky is q little bit overexposed but I like the global composition.
Well done.

Alexandre

ChristianS (2997) 2004-09-26 16:03

Well composed photo, nice perspective and some lovely colours. Well done!

avigur_11 (21954) 2004-09-26 18:13

A very pecial view of the egg. THe diagonal line and the war, colors of the lower building performs a very good foregroung for your main subject. I also like the reflection in the windows. Very god shot, Dan.

Endy (1025) 2004-09-26 22:07

Wow, wonderful perspective here, a very geomatrical shot. The contrast between the straigt buildings and the curved tower strikes me. Your picture renders also very well the mix of blues of the tower.

Well done Dan!

manny (21833) 2004-09-27 2:57

Dan,I like the colors here very much.Composition is also very good. This is a great shot. You framed this very well too.

kaychambers (1198) 2004-09-27 3:25

Nice idea, but I have the following issues with this :

a/ the overexposure top left (rather)

2/ the inclusion of a (wonky) Prudential office does nothing.

Correct and remove immediately.

Not one of Norman Foster's better structures, in my opinion.

Regards,

Vic, Singapore.

[2] +

avis2avis (4264) 2004-09-27 8:23

Beautiful architectural shot. This is something I am very bad at. You have nicely juxtaposed the two very different styles of architecture. Very nicely done.

RandomCameraGuy (3069) 2004-09-27 9:05

Hey Dan! Funky building. Nice colour saturation. I'd try to get that building on the right out of frame though.

... ugly frame though hahahahaha! Really man, I'll basically not like any border that isn't pure black, or pure white, but I'm just boring that way!

sn00zie (2384) 2004-09-27 12:12

quite an intriguing piece of art and architecture here. the colors are beautiful and your angle is great. now i wanna see this piece of work with my own eyes!!!

rabani (9645) 2004-09-27 22:01

Contrasting perspective here Dan. Just goes to show, architecture is definitely a good yardstick of a society's state of mind and therefore, its culture. Aesthetic is becoming of a form factor instead of just functional. You could see this in your photo.

technogran (1339) 2004-09-28 0:02

Unusual and colourful architecture here, and I like the diagonal stripe effect. I also like the perspective and the seemingly leaning tower on the right, which gives, to me anyway, an idea of how high this building really is. Great composition.

spence (65) 2004-09-28 6:30

Great angle on this amazing building Dan - I like the contrast of colours as well as architectural styles. The third building helps provide balance. I really like the light on the old building too.

Rhiannon (1728) 2004-09-28 9:17

I love the play with warm and cold colours here. Excellent contrasts between colours, light and shadows, old and new. That buildings is very strange. I have never seen anythng like it. Very futuristic.
Well composed, I like your angle.
Great shot!

ChrisJ (87654) 2004-09-29 3:23

Superb architectural shot with the added bonus of great colour saturation.

pulezan (841) 2004-09-29 6:05

Very beautiful picture showing old and new building in an excellent composition. I like so much this blue colour everywhere. Nice frame.

vedran

pedros (328) 2004-12-13 16:09

Great shot.
Good color, interesting angle and also a wonderful building.
Well done

franklee (24) 2005-01-03 11:06

Very good angle and colors here. Very good use of point of vue.

Alan_Kolnik (515) 2005-03-13 9:04

Interesting view of this weird building, which Im sure anyone who visits London looks at with some amazement. Much better shot than a straight frontal view, or a straight view across the river.

jbweasle (9373) 2005-03-14 18:13

A fabulous perspective on the Gherkin, Dan. I work not far from here but have never appreciated the building from this angle. Great contrast between the old and the new, the golden and the blue. Well done.

keribar (43841) 2005-03-18 0:36

Just found this view of the "Gherkin" in London. I am aware they everybody hates it, but all photographers ( Including me ) have taken quite a collection of shots from all directions. I have not discovered this angle though, and I think it shows the great contrast with the buildings.

KevRyan (22924) 2005-05-03 20:01

Fantastic shot Daniel to set the Gherkin above these orange street facades - great angle of the shot - a very nice contemporary urban image full of interest and graphic power.

capthaddock (28790) 2005-06-23 9:30

What the ....??? This wasn't there last time I went in 2000. Interesting architecture, quite original, better than the rectangular boxes typical of north america. Excellent perspective having it rise above the brick facade.

musaed007 (10) 2005-07-15 8:09

I like the composition but mostly, i love the
warmth of the sunlight on the brown building,
very rare in London UK.
Great pic but remove the grey building

Ulises (1026) 2005-07-20 19:02

dan,
nice note, i will try to remember it if i go to london in some time in my life, i love thePOV and the colors,. the composition is nice
rgrds
ulises

alekpet (4661) 2005-07-22 2:34

Unusual POV here.
Nice contrast in colors and architecture.
Certainly a nice addition to Old & New theme.

markstaples (15670) 2006-01-18 4:12

HI Daniel
This is a great shot that I have just stumbled across and well deserving of its 67 points. Excellent POV, excellent lighting producing some excellent colours. Cool shot.
Mark

anew (582) 2006-02-26 18:10

I love the pov. And I love what u did with the picture to show the colors in such a unique manner. You must tell me what you did. It gives a very nice look. I must admit I haven't seen the building in reality.

maki (0) 2006-04-13 3:45

Hi Dan,
Interesting POV and beautiful contrast between old and hyper-new architecture constructions. I also like this kind of blue and glass as a material is always good choice for taking such pictures. regards. maki

peco85 (921) 2006-05-20 7:42

Another great picture by you. Beautiful details and contrast.

It gives me great pleasure to watch your work.
Continue the goog work!

PeCO